The #1 Secret to Successful Marketing

by Jeremy Powers on September 21, 2010

"Thinking is easy, acting is difficult, and to put one's thoughts into action is the most difficult thing in the world." Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

I won’t keep you hanging. Here is the secret: ACTION. Almost every business owner I have talked with or worked with has a laundry list of marketing ideas for their business. Some of the ideas are good. Some of the ideas are not so good. Most of the time, though, the ideas are just that: ideas. An unimplemented tactic never works.

The fear of a failure prevents the opportunity for success. If you have a message or tactic you have been talking about for weeks, months, or years: take action. Here are some quick steps to get you started:

Write it down – Commit to the idea by committing the time to “put it on paper.” Thinking and talking are great, but writing it down adds clarity and a sense of purpose.

Budget – Allocate a small amount of money or time to the idea. Force yourself to schedule two hours toward developing the concept. Demand that you will allocate at least a few hundred dollars toward the idea.

Share it – Take your first draft of the written idea and budget to your spouse, mentor, or another small business owner. Share it. Ask for their thoughts, and listen to their input.

Create accountability – schedule a follow-up meeting with your spouse, mentor, or friend where you will be expected to share the initial results of the test. Decide now, before implementation, how you will measure the impact.

Act – Implement the low budget version of the idea

Clarify results – Write down the results, using the metrics you previously determined. Writing down the results is as important as writing down the idea.